Mariam Said, guardian of a legacy Edward Said's widow intends to digitize the Palestinian intellectual's collection to make it more accessible to students from the Global South

Abstract

In search of funding to digitize Edward Said's collection, donated to Columbia University in 2009, Mariam Said is today one of the main people responsible for keeping the legacy of the Palestinian intellectual alive. Born and raised in Beirut, she has lived in New York since the 1970s. Graduated from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and with two postgraduate degrees from Columbia University, Mariam worked for more than 20 years in libraries of large companies in the financial market. Along with Argentine-Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, she directs the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and is vice-president of the Barenboim-Said Foundation. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was created from conversations between Edward Said and Barenboim, who were very close friends and had a common desire to address the conflict between Israel and Palestine through dialogue and understanding mutual differences. In several interviews, Mariam stated that Edward considered the orchestra his most important legacy. With her daughter, the actress and writer Najla Said, Mariam was in São Paulo in November 2023, weeks after the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out. He visited the city to participate in an international seminar, organized by the Edward Said Chair of the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe) and the Social Service of Commerce in São Paulo (Sesc-SP), with sponsorship of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in memory of the 30th anniversary of the death of Edward Said. The conversation that resulted in this interview began on a tour arround the city center of São Paulo, which included a guided visit to Sala São Paulo and lunch at the Central Market. Months later, the dialogue continued through virtual platforms. In the interview, Mariam Said reveals that Edward's archive at Columbia University brings together several unpublished essays and documents, which are awaiting for the work of researchers and editors interested in investigating it.